We are NOT the Mohawk Valley

[strikeslip]

What we call ourselves depends on the vantage point. We are "Utica" when we mean "Utica," "Greater Utica" when we mean Utica and its suburbs, "Utica-Rome" when we mean Utica and Rome and their suburbs, and Utica-Rome Metro when we mean Oneida and Herkimer Counties combined (as defined by the Census Bureau)

The common thread here is "Utica," but there seems to be a concerted effort to wipe that name off the map [Rome is not treated that way]. We can speculate why this is. But until it stops, I don't think this area will ever move ahead.

[bobbbiez]

Strikeslip, very well stated and very true.

[dgriffin]

Nov 19, 2008 15:49:08 GMT -5 countrygal said:

Thanks Clipper! Those farm fields around here would turn into housing developments that nobody can afford to live in. It's an uphill battle because most politicians would rather have houses than farms even though we use less utilities and pay the same in taxes! Oh, don't get me started

It's been twenty years, but somehow it doesn't seem that long ago when we would head the family car west over the mountains and drive through beautiful farm country south of Cooperstown on our way to Oneonta where my son was in college. The gorgeous (and large!) dairy farms would roll on for miles and miles. Another favorite trip was up to my wife's hometown of Watertown, out of Boonville on up through Copenhagen and over the hill at Burrville, then down into the city. Again, farm after farm. Today, one sees nothing but overgrown fields and the occasional gentleman's horse farm, with Hummers and Cadillac SUV's parked in the long driveways of renovated farm houses. And sometimes, perfectly useful and charming old farm homes ripped down and replaced by gaudy McMansions with mirrored one-way glass in the windows. What a shame.

Countrygal, here's an article from the October 2, 1951 Utica Daily Press that I found enjoyable. I hope you do, too. Click the image and then click it a second time to enlarge it enough to read.

[dgriffin]

Here's another piece of history. I found this interesting because it touts the great future for farmers, as seen in 1966. From the Mexico, NY Independent (an Oswego County weekly), May 5, 1966.

Click on the graphic, and then click on it again when it opens in a new page (depending on your browser, I suppose.)

[countrygal]

Interesting articles Dave, thanks! I spent many summers at my grandparent's farm in Turin just a little way past Snow Ridge. Not as many farms as there once was, that's for sure.

There is quite a few people from other Eastern states that have moved here to farm. It's not as crowded here yet. They aren't in love with the taxes and wonder if farming is even welcome here, but most are getting along fine.

I hope it won't be in my lifetime that all of my food is imported from someplace further away. And......even worse.......from outside of the United States!

[dgriffin]

Nov 20, 2008 8:33:02 GMT -5 countrygal said:

I hope it won't be in my lifetime that all of my food is imported from someplace further away. And......even worse.......from outside of the United States!

Holy Cow! (pun intended) I think I just burped up some melamine! That's what I get for buying cheap milk on the Internet from The Xingdong Overseas Dairy. Here's the photo they sent me of their stock. They call them "small green milk producers. The fellow up front they've named Algore and the one in back is called Alcapone. They're chewing on waste of some sort. No mention of the herd's RHA.

[snickers]

Nov 19, 2008 15:11:02 GMT -5 countrygal said:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Not that many Ag issues.....I'm cracking up. I guess not that many that anybody wants to know about. I've said it before on this forum but Agriculture is Oneida County's number one industry. The powers that be either don't want to admit that and/or don't want anyone to know. But not to worry, it won't be the number one industry for long because farms around here are dropping like flies!

Thanks for the info

"...farms around here are dropping like flies!"

Uhhh, not fer nuttin', but I would consider that a BIG "ag issue"!

[Clipper]

I remember back a few years (over 30 now) Anita Maxwell and some other farmers formed, and started actively lobbying for farmers through an organization called the NFO. There was lots of advertising, lots of lobbying, and lots of local support for farmers was aroused. they managed to keep farming and farmers in the news almost every day, and it aroused attention to their plight as well as keeping agriculture in the forefront. It educated folks and made them aware of farming and it's importance to THEIR lives.

I am not familiar with the NFO mission specifically, as I am not a farmer, and never played one on TV. I DID sleep at a holiday inn last night though, haha. I did run a dairy farm for awhile when I was in my twenties, and I worked on farms all of my younger days, boarding on one when I was fourteen. My major in high school was agriculture and my dream was to farm. Unfortunately, a city kid cannot get together the money to farm anymore, unless there is already a farm in the family.

I know one thing. Anita and the NFO worked together to increase awareness of the plight of farmers, and if I am not mistaken, their secondary benefit was that they were like a coop to each other in marketing and buying, as well as carrying a loud voice to government as a lobby.

I hope that someone can re-arouse that interest in farming by the general public before we all end up eating mexican produce and drinking chinese milk.

GOVERNMENT BETTER GET THEIR HEAD OUT OF THEIR ASSES AND WORRY MORE ABOUT FARMERS THAN AUTOWORKERS AND FINANCIAL MISFITS ON WALL STREET. We might survive a depression, but we will starve without farmers. I can live without money in my wallet if I have food in my pantry, and milk to drink.

[countrygal]

Here's some statistics from the USDA. Oneida County had 1,020 farms in 2006, 995 in 2007. NY had 35,600 farms in 2005, 35,000 in 2006 and 34,200 in 2007. I know that number for both Oneida County and NY will dip lower for 2008. It's a shame really.

I thank everyone for their support and I do let other farmers know that there are people that support us, even though we feel alone a lot of the time.

We do have the County Farm Bureau, Women Farming Today, Oneida County Dairy Promotion that plug away trying to educate people about your local farms. Hopefully we're making a difference.

[dgriffin]

CG, do you have a figure on acreage, to differentiate between farm consolidation and land going fallow? I'm betting the latter, but it would be nice to know.

[countrygal]

I don't. I'm not sure if they track that. Let me look into that.

[countrygal]

All I can find right now is that Oneida County had 216,000 acres of farmland in 2006. I'm sure that number has decreased. I don't know how much of that is land that is actually being used. I know at least 1000 acres of that is being used (ours).

[snickers]

Yanno, I am glad to hear that Utica and Rome don't like to be called "Mohawk Valley". I really LIKE the Mohawk Valley, but I detest the local Sodom and Gamorrah.

So, it all works out for me.

[dgriffin]

CG, now ya got me interested! So I did a little research and found a few interesting items.

Here’s an interesting quote in a WKTV story of July, ’08 about the AgriCulture Map and AgriTourism in Oneida County.
“Agriculture contributes over $270 million annually to the Oneida County economy, and the county is 6th in New York State for number of farms and land in farms. Yet, the average age of farmers increases each year, and most farm families must rely on outside income to make a living.
As a result, many farmers try to diversify, and agri-tourism enterprises like farm stands, hayrides, and on-farm event facilities that are popular with the public help farm families increase profitability so they can afford to keep farming. (I remember reading of that trend starting in the 1970’s when I subscribed to the American Agriculturist.)
www.wktv.com/news/local/25755869.html

In the following USDA Report, which is a nation wide study, it appears that the number of farms is decreasing because of both consolidation and also increased non-farm use. When they looked at the stats by sales class (thousands of dollars of annual sales), the smaller operators ($1K to $10K/year) were decreasing, not surprisingly, while the larger farms (over $500K/year) were increasing, which I take to imply consolidation. Interesting report, and probably Oneida County mirrors the national trends.
usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/FarmLandIn/FarmLandIn-02-01-2008_revision.pdf

And here is a page of impressive Ag Facts for New York State from the State Ag Dept, entitled, “New York Is An Agricultural State.”
“Agriculture is important to New York State. Agricultural production returned over $3.6 billion to the farm economy in 2005. About 25 percent of the state’s land area, or 7.55 million acres, are used by the 35,600 farms to produce a very diverse array of food products.”
www.agmkt.state.ny.us/agfacts.html

Damn, you’re right! For the size of Ag business in the county and the state, it’s not getting the attention it deserves. I wonder if that’s because our state government has been all but taken over by down-staters.

[clarencebunsen]

Dave,
I think you can eliminate the words "all but" from the phrase "all but taken over by downstaters."

When the next legislature convenes, upstaters (north of Yonkers) can attend if they want to collect their per diem. Otherwise. why bother.